The first time Highland Park resident Paul Zappia received a mailer criticizing Eunisses Hernandez, his representative on the Los Angeles City Council, he tossed it in the trash. Then another arrived in his mailbox. And another, and another after that. Each came from a group called Neighbors First, which has been attacking Hernandez, a democratic socialist, over her votes against police hiring and her opposition to a law barring homeless encampments near schools. Zappia, who supports Hernandez in the June 2 primary, said he looked up Neighbors First on its website but couldn't find any information - not a staff directory, a phone number or even an email address - about the group.
The Tories kept the same number of seats held in 2022, while Labour made notable inroads, increasing its representation from seven to 13 seats. The Liberal Democrats also saw a modest gain, securing three seats. However, the election proved less fruitful for other contenders with no wins for Reform or the Green Party.
The party returned 32 councillors across the authority's 57 seats a modest gain of one compared to 2022 extending its dominance since 2014. The Liberal Democrats, who had aimed to unseat Labour and strengthen their south-west London stronghold, secured 19 seats, an improvement on their 2022 result despite falling short of their ultimate goal. Meanwhile, the Conservatives held their ground in Wimbledon Village but lost three councillors elsewhere.
There are no councillors from any other parties and no independent candidates were elected either. Westminster, a borough considered one of the most high-profile wards in Thursday's local elections, has historically been a Tory stronghold. It shifted to Labour control in 2022, but political experts had widely predicted the Conservatives would win the council back. Conservative Westminster Group Leader, Paul Swaddle, described the result as fantastic, adding that he had been hopeful walking into the count tonight.
Labour has lost overall control of Exeter City Council after 14 years in power. While the party remains the largest group at the authority, it lost five councillors from the previous time the seats were up for election in 2022, taking its overall number down to 18 - two below the majority mark. The Green Party gained three seats to move to 10 seats overall and remains the second largest group at the authority while the Liberal Democrats gained a seat - taking their total to five.
"Sandra is a Blackpool landlady whose magician husband left her for his new assistant Abraca-Debra. She started as a stand-up character and was born from skits my flatmate and I were doing during lockdown when we were bored."
